Nick Denton Proclaims Himself Emperor of Gawker

In an act of hubris recalling Napoleon’s activities during the Hundred Days, Nick Denton has proclaimed himself emperor of Gawker. Apparently, Denton wasn’t impressed by any of the job applicants and deemed himself the only fit man for the position. Among Denton’s first acts as Managing Editor was the First Agrarian Blogging Reform.

But let us give Denton the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps the job pool was unpromising, if only because being paid to be publicly humiliated on a blog was really no different from working for more pay to be yelled at by a Type A attorney in an office. Or maybe it’s because most writers would rather not swim with sharks, when Gawker is already doing a fine job of jumping them.